First time towing with the new van, not fun!
So I got to tow with our new van for the first time today. It was one of my worst experiences towing ever. The engine and transmission seemed to run great, but the steering was miserable. To be...
Forum Discussion
The LeRoys wrote:
I have installed the exact same tires on my last 3 tow vehicles and loved them, never experiencing anything like this. Some of the tires I towed a camper the same day or next day after they were installed, not waiting 600 miles.
After WyoTravelers suggestions of the track bar I did a bit of reading and it does sound like a logical suggestion. Especially after reading the below post by Ron.Dittmer.
E350 Susupension Modifications
After discussing the Track Bar with the wife she mentioned that when she was following the van the other day she noticed that the back of the van wasn't really "following" the front, it appeared that the back end was a bit to the right of the front. This was before we got the new tires though. Does that sound like it could be the track bar? Or something else?
I have the LTX MS2 tires on my E350 for the last 13K miles with over 10K miles towing and have never experienced this issue you are having so I doubt it is the tires. With that being said my Van is basically MAXED out weight wise with my front weighing between 3900 and 4100 and the rear between 5800 and 6100. As a guess it sounds like you could be a little lite on the TW and you definitely need to have your Equal-i-zer hitch set up properly ... I'm also running a 12K/1.2K Equal-i-zer hitch with a TW in the 850 to 1,000 lb range. The GCW of my combo is between 16,700 and 17,000lbs.
Two things I watch closely is my TW which I measure frequently with my Sherline scale and at my first fuel fill up on each road trip I make it a habit of running across the scales since I'm basically always maxed out or close to it on the Rear axle on my Van and both 3500 lb axles on my TT.
As far as your comment on your wife's observation of the tracking of the VAN IIRC and I could be mistaken and someone needs to confirm or correct me on this, but I think the Ford Vans are sort of unique in that the rear track witdh is slightly wider than the front so you get a skewed prospective if you view the Van from the rear since the front and rear tires won't line up exactly behind one another.
Larry
